Be a Better Father: Examples from Hollywood

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One of my favorite movies is John Q.  As I was having dental work done recently, I was watching The Pursuit of Happyness and realized how much I love that movie as well.  Then it dawned on me.  I like those movies because they both center around a dedicated and loving father.

John Q -



If you have not seen John Q, stop reading this and go do it. Denzel Washington stars in this movie and he plays a father with a sick son, who is in need of a heart transplant.  Due to issues with his employment status and his insurance coverage he cannot afford the surgery and the hospital refuses to put his son's name on the Heart transplant list.  I love how determined this father is to ensure his son lives - he holds fundraisers and sells all he has, but it still isn't enough.  He still does not give up.  He then resorts to hijacking the hospital and even attempts to take his own life so his son can have his heart.  While this is certainly not recommended, I LOVE his dedication and perseverance to take care of his family.  How many of us would have given up long before that?

Pursuit of Happyness - 
 

In this movie, a down and out family is struggling to pay their bills.  The father, Chris Garnder (Will Smith), works tirelessly to try to provide for his son. Even after his wife leaves him and he becomes homeless, everything he does is to protect and provide for his son.  For me, it makes me think - Am I giving 110% to provide for my family and my sons? If I faced this same situation, would I have the strength and dedication to go to such extreme measure to provide for my family?

Rarely does Hollywood portray powerful, dedicated (or even adequate) fathers.  This time they got it right.  Watch these movies and see two great examples of how to be a great Father.

Good Husband vs. Good Wife

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As I thought about and wrote my last blog post on the 4 fundamentals of being a good husband, I found an interesting statistic which, while not a surprise, is somewhat troubling.

As I was playing around with different keywords on Google AdWords Keyword Tool and noticed the following:

How to be a Good Husband: 4 Fundamental Principles

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The ways to be a good husband follows a very fundamental formula: Loving, Serving, Communicating, and Dating.  These four fundamental principles outline the areas of being a husband where when improvement is made, will have the greatest positive impact on your wife and marriage.  It is important to note that these are the same four principles would be my advice to any prospective husband as well as any husband who just wants to be better.  These principles build a solid foundation to being a great husband!

Date Your Wife: Dinner and a Movie Variations

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I had a great date with my wife last week. We went to a restaurant we've never been to in downtown Seattle (Serious Pie - highly recommended) and then saw The Amazing Spiderman at the Cinerama theater (I also highly recommend the movie and the theater - and they have chocolate popcorn).  Many people under estimate the dinner and a movie date -  I love it.  As long as it's not done for EVERY date, it can be a very fun! 

I think this is a great date because it allows for conversation and discussion and provides some relaxing entertainment.  What do you do if it does become boring? (i.e. going to the same restaurant and movie theater every week). 

Be creative!  There are so much you can do with a dinner and a movie date! Here's a few of my ideas, feel free to share yours in the comments -

Be a Better Husband by Showing Gratitude

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 I initially titled this post "Be a Better Husband by Saying Thank You," but changed it when realizing that being thankful is not just saying "thank you," and that showing gratitude is much more powerful. Our actions speak infinitely louder then then spoken words.

How to show Gratitude-
I imagine that people who gratitude in many different ways.  This is something that I am not good at, plain and simple.  Here's good example of how I don't show gratitude and maybe you can use myself as an example of what not to do.  Often when I come home from work, my wife has worked tirelessly to clean the house.  While I notice it most of the time, I occasionally remember to say thank you, and even more rarely do I SHOW gratitude by helping to maintain the cleanliness she created (by at very least cleaning up after myself!).  You know your wife - say thank you and show gratitude in a way you know she will appreciate.

Obama or Romney? A Win-Win!

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So, who will it be? Mitt Romney or another term for President Obama?

It's a win-win.

Okay, okay, that might be a little bit of a stretch, but as far as providing an example of a good husband and father, both seem to have it nailed - both would be a good example of how a man is supposed to treat their wife and kids... at least in the public eye, which apparently is all that matters in politics!

Starting Back Up!!!

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Helloooooooooooooo!

It's been about 14 months since I posted regularly, but I have been giving it considerable thought and think I am ready to have another go at it.  It's not that I didn't enjoy it last time, but for those of you who are bloggers know the kind of commitment it takes to make regular updates and I feel it may have taken a toll on my family.  Not sure how frequently I will post, but I commit to posting regularly.

While I will be back on the blog, I'm not ready to get back into Twitter yet.  Sure it's great to interact with like-minded people, but I've found it's largely a waste of time and I can't afford to waste time these days.

I still feel very strongly about being a good husband and father and the main reason I started this blog still applies - it reminds me every day to be better.  It makes me accountable.  I will admit that I was much better at doing the little things in my marriage and family when I was more involved here (especially regular date nights!).

So, as I re-commit to this blog, I re-commit to my wife and my kids to be better!

I invite you to re-commit as well... we'll do it together.

photo credit: eschipul via photo pin cc